Week 21 Streaming Guide

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Most leagues will be starting their fantasy playoffs this week and managers need to shift their focus. What happens in a month means nothing. The only thing that is important is how your team performs this week. And once this week is over, the only thing that matters is how your team performs in the second round of the playoffs. Don’t worry about how your team is going to perform in the finals during the first round of the playoffs. Do whatever you have to do to move on and worry about the finals later.

Winning in the fantasy playoffs is often more about quantity than quality. You’ll want to try to maximize your games played each week and that may require some tough decisions. If dropping the fifth-worst player on your roster gives you the best chance of winning the week, then that is something you need to consider. You also need to be willing to use multiple spots to stream. Using only one roster spot to stream will make it difficult to maximize your games played. You’ll probably want to use two different spots to stream.

Who to pick up, and to a lesser extent, who to drop, comes down to what categories you need. Don’t worry about picking up all-around players if only a couple categories are competitive. Also, don’t be afraid to drop big name players if they add nothing to the categories that you need to win. For example, if you have no chance at winning points or threes this week, and your matchup is expected to be very close, then dropping a player like Devin Booker is completely reasonable. Without those two categories, Booker becomes absolutely useless and due to his turnovers and weak defensive contributions, he will actually be a fairly large hindrance to your playoff progression. Again, unless you are confident that you can easily beat your playoff opponent, do what it takes to win this week, and figure out your strategy for the next round when you get there.

Below is a streaming guide for what is the first round of the playoffs in most leagues. Wednesday is an extremely busy night and you’ll likely be overloaded that day. That makes players who don’t play on Wednesday this week and instead play on Tuesday and Thursday very valuable. Ideally, you’ll be picking up players who play back-to-back nights. The teams with the most useful schedules this week are Portland and Brooklyn. The Blazers have two back-to-back sets this week and the Nets play Tuesday and Thursday and also have a back-to-back set. The Knicks have this week’s worst schedule followed closely by the Pacers. The Knicks only play two games this week with their final game coming on Thursday. The only Knicks worth holding onto after Thursday are Kristaps Porzingis and CarmeloAnthony (don’t even think about starting either player in a weekly league). The Pacers play three games in Week 21 but have three days off after Wednesday. If Thaddeus Young doesn’t turn it around by Wednesday, you’ll likely be getting a notification that he’s been dropped in most leagues.

The following guide assumes that you play in a 12-team league. The categories that I list beside the players are the categories that the player has the potential to provide above-average production in. If better players are available than the ones I list below, don’t hesitate to grab them. If you play in a larger league and the below players aren’t available, feel free to shoot me a message on Twitter or through the contact form. Good luck.

Monday

No team plays on both Monday and Tuesday in Week 21. If you can, use Week 20’s moves to gain some extra games on Monday and then use your first moves of Week 21 to grab players who play on Tuesday and Thursday.

Five teams play on Tuesday and Thursday so these players, assuming your Wednesday schedule is full, are your primary targets. If you do have some room Wednesday, then focus on grabbing players who also play on either Tuesday or Thursday.

20 of 30 teams play on Wednesday night so you’ll have plenty of quality options to choose from. Again, try to maximize the usefulness of your moves by picking up players who are in the midst of a back-to-back set.

Try to fill your Thursday schedule with guys who played earlier in the week. The aim is to gain two games per move. The Raptors, Magic, and Nets are the only teams that play on both Thursday and Friday.

Four teams play on both Friday and Saturday. Those teams are the Rockets, Bucks, Wizards, and Bulls. NeneHilario, despite posting useful per game numbers, is not a recommended streaming option. He has not been playing in back-to-back games recently.

Best streaming options who play on both Friday and Saturday: Any Rockets rotation players who may be available in your league, Tony Snell (3PM), Bobby Portis (REB), Robin Lopez (REB, BLK), Ian Mahinmi (FG%, REB, BLK)

Saturday

Four teams play on both Saturday and Sunday. Those teams are the Cavaliers, Blazers, Kings, and Spurs.

If you’ve got the win locked up early in the week, I like saving a move for Sunday so that you can set up for the semi-finals. If you’re in a dogfight, then don’t get fancy and do what you need to do to ensure you move on.